Forget powered sports drinks, what about powdered alcohol?

There have been reports that the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB), the government agency that manages all alcohol and tobacco supplies in the United States, has rescinded its approval for Palcohol, alcohol in powdered form. The initial package would weigh about one ounce and be small enough to fit into any pocket.

Once the beverage company got the proper approval on April 8, Palcohol was slated to launch later this year. However, multiple sources indicated that the TTB decided to take back the approval on Palcohol’s labels. According to Palcohol’s parent company Lipsmark, “there seemed to be a discrepancy on our fill level, how much powder is in the bag.”

“We have re-submitted our labels,” the website reads on April 24. “A minor change was all that was needed, so we expect that the labels should be approved soon.”

How exactly does Palcohol work? The company’s website explains a user could add five ounces of “your favorite mixer” to the cocktail packets, while the distilled beverages would need five ounces of water. The average alcohol by volume would be 10 to 12 percent.

Palcohol is a patent pending product with six variations of spirits and cocktail mixes like margarita, mojito, lemon drop and cosmopolitan. At this time, Palcohol spirits only come in rum and vodka flavor.

It is unclear exactly what aspect of Palcohol’s labels turned off the TTB, but the lesson is clear: creating a high-quality and informative label is not a simple task. Businesses that want to enter the food and beverage industry especially should be mindful of how their label looks before sending it off to its label printing software.

In Palcohol’s situation, the company added that the labels that were submitted to the TTB “was not meant to be our final presentation of Palcohol.” The company’s founders should have double-checked to see if their initial version met the minimum requirements. Instead they must draft up a complete different design.